The Voice Rises

My tasks are simple.

1. Get to the gym.


2. Eat healthy.


3. Repeat.

It isn't complex and it certainly isn't something I can't do. I mean, it's an hour of cardio, not an Iron Man. The physical is not the struggle. It's mental. It's the old tapes that play in my head telling me I'm a quitter. It's the years of self-doubt and the voices of criticism and the sometimes overwhelming feeling of inadequacy that threaten my success.

But slowly, defiantly, a new voice calls to me over the din of negativity. It's my own voice telling me that I can do this. And each day that I choose healthier eating over junk food, the voice rises. And each day that I get myself up before dawn and go the gym, the voice rises. And now, in moments of introspection, when I look at myself and my life objectively and realize that I am strong and I am determined and I am in charge of my own life, the voice rises.

I'll stumble. I'll struggle. And I may even fall. But I will not stay down. Like the voice that encourages me, I will rise.